SPATIAL ASSESSMENT OF GROUNDWATER QUALITY FOR IRRIGATION IN BAHARIYA OASIS, EGYPT

A.A. ELNAGGAR¹*
¹Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Dakahlia, Egypt
* Corresponding Author : elnaggar@mans.edu.eg

Received : 16-11-2014     Accepted : 18-12-2014     Published : 30-12-2014
Volume : 3     Issue : 1       Pages : 34 - 39
J Soil Sci 3.1 (2014):34-39

Keywords : Water quality, Electrical conductivity, Sodium adsorption ratio, Residual sodium carbonates, Geostatistics, Bahriya Oasis
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : The author wants to thank Dr. El-Boghdady M.E., the manager of Bahariya Oasis Reserve Area for his great help in collecting these water samples. Great thanks also have to be given to Dr. El-Sirafy Z.M. for proof reading of this research paper.

Development of agricultural projects out of the Nile Valley and Delta in Egypt is a necessity nowadays to overcome the over increasing population. However, the availability of water resources and their quality are the major limiting factors for these projects. Consequently, secondary water resources have to be evaluated for their quality and availability. The major objective of this work was to evaluate the quality of groundwater in Bahariya Oasis for irrigation. This is in addition to studying the spatial variability of water salinity within the Oasis using geostatistical analyses. For these purposes, georeferenced 17 representative water samples were collected from governmental wells in the Oasis. This is in addition to 448 georeferenced water samples from private wells in the Oasis were tested for their Electrical Conductivity (EC). Water samples from governmental wells were analyzed for their chemical properties. EC values of private wells varied from 296 to 1020 μSm-1 and these values increased from the south to the north direction. Chemical analyses of governmental wells indicated that the EC values ranged between 240 and 550 μSm-1. The SAR values varied from 0.99 to 2.08. The adj.SAR values varied from 0.76 to 1.95. The ESP values ranged between 0.20 and 1.78%. The RSC values were negative and ranged between -0.69 and -0.13 meq L-1. Total Hardness (TH) varied from 49.9 to 125.4 ppm. It conclusion, groundwater in Bahariya Oasis is acceptable for crop irrigation; however certain concerns have to be given for its availability and management for optimal usage.